Finia was grateful to Cortina who immediately took care of my wounds.
「Thank you for taking care of that, Cortina-sama」
「Don’t mind it. After all, I also consider Maria’s daughter as my Daughter from now on」
There are only two women in the Heroe’s Party. In that sense, Maria and Cortana’s relationship is not bad.
Even at the time of Maria’s wedding, it was her who blessed their marriage but actually was the most sad when they announced their retirement.
「That’s why, I made sure to meet her first here」
「Now that you mention it, how did you know in advanced that we would be arriving……」
「Well, it’s from calculating the distance from the village where Maria is, assuming the average speed of the carriage along with delays in case it was attacked, also the condition of the highway due to the weather and――」
「Is, is that so, that, that should be enough already」
Finia immediately stopped Cortina who began to show off all of her calculations. After all, she always had a habit of not stopping when you let her explain something. That was a nice cut there.
「Muu, is that so? We are ready to welcome you any time, so let’s move there immediately」
「Are we going to your house?」
「Yeah. I consider Nicole-chan as my daughter, you know? That’s why you are also going to live in my house! 」
「Wha……?」
This was a little unexpected even for me.
Probably, even Maria and Lyell didn’t expect such a thing to happen, and although it might have certainly been misleading, what it actually ended up was this. But if I’m living with Cortina who is also blessed with a lot of gifts, then there will definitely be a point that she would end up knowing who I really am.
It is something that I would really like to prevent if I possibly could……
「Maxwell was also convinced that it would be safer this way! He has already given his support to this, you know? 」
「Guhe」
It’s no good, if she already has been given his full support, it would only become more troublesome if I reject Cortina’s Offer. Well, because it was decided by both Cortina and Maxewell and with them being my guardians, there’s no way I would be able to refuse.
Also, if I strongly oppose, there is a possibility of some misunderstandings to pop up instead.
Cortina is one of the Heroes. Nevertheless, she is a star of hope for common people who contributed not by pure talent and ability but by being able to use her ingenuity.
It is impossible and would be seen as strange if you actually decline her request of living with her.
If you could sell this way of treatment, it would probably be priced with a worth to cover enough money for a small town to operate or even more.
When Michelle insisted so, I was expecting that her mother would revoke her.
Also, even Cortina had an unusually troubled expression.
「Hmm, I’m sorry. My house is not really that big enough to include a whole family, but if it’s you alone」
「But, but…」
「Michelle!?」
Her mother’s face started to pale because of her attitude, which was certainly a little too bold.
Well, I also know that Cortina doesn’t have the character that find that rude or react to it.
「That can’t be helped. Instead, I have another house nearby, so do you want to use that instead? We will be neighbors」
「We will be neighbors with Cortina-sama!」
Michelle-chan expresses her delight with a banzai to her mother, and on the other hand her mother could only bow her head down because of her daughter.
It is also true that with her gift, she might also be in danger because of the nobles staying in this town.
I also need to be careful when I go there in the future.
But this brightness, or rather the atmosphere it creates is rather bright. I need to make sure to make this last. At some point, there will also be a need to balance it.
After such exchanges, we set foot to the city center of Raum.
There are no needed qualifications to enter as an adventurer, but there is a strict examination and confirmation before you could enter the city, but for us, we didn’t need to do that because they know that we are Cortina’s acquaintance and that I am the daughter of a Hero so we were easily able to get inside without the usual checks.
The Magic Academy that I’m going to attend resides near the edge of the city. A reason for this not being placed in the center of the city is because there will be actual test of many dangerous spells during class.
Cortina’s house was placed close to the huge school on its outer edge. It was an extremely small and frugal house that you won’t normally expect for a Hero’s residence. The size of the garden is also small enough that it could only be able to manage two horses. It was a really modest residence if compared to our place.
Next to it was a house of the same size.
「This is my house. It is a bit on the small side, but please bear with it. Michelle’s place will be that neighboring house over there」
「This is…… Compared to Maria-sama’s…… that is……」
「Well, I understand what you are trying to say. It’s just me trying not to be too extravagant. On the other hand, Maxwell’s mansion is really amazing, you know」
Well, that is to be expected due to the fact that Maxwell is a Royalty of this country.
But, didn’t he go back to being an adventurer? He is now the director of the Magic Academy though. Because he also had the qualifications to be a king, his connection to politics is not broken either.
It seems like because of his status, his residence was made to be more extravagant as the heavyweights of the country would often come to visit him to ask for a consultation.
「Well, more than that, let’s discuss as to how you will live in this city. Maybe, we could go to Maxwell after dropping off your luggage? It is too troublesome though, so maybe we can do it later」
While pushing me inside the house, Cortina winks at me then show me around her house.